Lezeau Selected to Attend NCAA Career in Sports Forum

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Men's soccer student-athlete Gemar Lezeau (Jamaica, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) recently attended the 2019 NCAA Career in Sports Forum, joining 200 student-athletes across all three divisions of the NCAA who convened earlier this month at the NCAA national office in Indianapolis, Indiana.

"We are thrilled that Gemar was selected to attend the NCAA Career in Sports Forum," remarked Director of Athletics James Lally. "This is a great opportunity for student-athletes to gain exposure to the many areas of the industry and network with some of the best in the business.

One of the many annual programs and resources organized and directed by the NCAA leadership development department, the Career in Sports Forum provides college student-athletes with a broader scope of the career tracks available within the sports business, with the primary focus on college athletics. The forum provides student-athletes interactive experiences with successful individuals in the sports business and a peek into their day-to-day duties and responsibilities.

"You really get more of an understanding for what happens behind closed doors and above us to make each division and each school run. I definitely have more of an appreciation for it all," commented Lezeau. "I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity and I'm proud to have represented the Bears at this level."

Lezeau, a rising senior criminal justice major who is also an active member of the Bears Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), was also picked to attend the Student-Athlete Leadership Forum in Washington, D.C. during the fall of his sophomore year.

Some of the cutting-edge topics covered by industry experts over the four-day forum included: how personal values intersect with career opportunities, how behavioral styles impact individual effectiveness, the key professional and career development information to assist with the transition from a student-athlete to a professional, and the role of the college coach or athletics administrator.

Lezeau is the first Bear student-athlete to have been selected for the annual educational forum, now in its tenth iteration at the national level. 

"We are grateful to the NCAA for continuing to support student-athlete career development through events such as this," concluded Lally.